Something Different
by Harknessgirl
Summary: Reid helps a friend solve a case with the help of the team. Hotch/Reid pairing contains Slash, If you don't like it, don't read it. Chapter 11 now up.
1. Taking the first step

Hotch looked around the office to make sure everything was in order for tomorrow before glancing at his watch 11 pm- much later than usual. He realised he was staying later at work more then usual. He turned off the lamp. After turning off the lamp he grabbed his briefcase and walked out of the door. Looking out over the main desk area, he was surprised to see a light still on over Reid's desk. As he headed across the room, he saw a pair of feet propped up on the desk. _Reid must have fallen asleep__._ But rounding the corner, he saw Spencer was looking at a pile of papers before glancing up.

"Hey, Hotch" He looked at his watch "What are you doing here so late?"

"I could ask you the same thing" he said. Reid swung his legs off the table before picking up a picture and handing it to Hotch- it was of a girl gagged and tied to a chair.

"A friend sent them, she wants me to have a look at them for her" Reid explained. "There is also torn out diary pages"

Hotch pulled up a chair.

"Where did she get them?" Hotch asked

"She searched a house and found them in the attic." He showed him a picture of a blond teenager "The guy kidnapped this teenager a few days ago. He was seen on security cameras putting her in the back of his truck, they managed to get the plates and a warrant and searched the house yesterday finding these"

Hotch picked up some of the other pictures. They were extremely disturbing even compared to what they had seen before.

"It means the kidnap was not planned or he is inexperienced if was seen on CCTV" Hotch surmised, and Reid nodded in agreement.

"They know he did this kidnapping but got quite a shock when they found the evidence pointing to these others," Reid said

"You thinking he's a serial?" Hotch asked leaning back in his chair to look at Reid.

Reid let out a big sigh "I think from looking at these pictures and some of these diary entries that he has definitely kidnapped and killed previous to this victim" Reid said.

"Does she want us to take the case?" Hotch asked.

"I'll talk to Kate about it, she's FBI and has solved serial cases before but I don't think to this extent" Reid said. He gave Hotch a lop-sided smile.

"Come on, I'll give you a lift home, you can call her in the morning, and depending on what she says we can get started then," Hotch said, standing up. Reid opened his mouth to disagree but Hotch went on, "If this is a friend of yours, you want to be at the top of your game. We just got back from Texas, we're all exhausted. It'll be better for us all, including the victims, if we're rested before we start." Reid nodded in agreement

"Thanks Hotch"

"No problem"

They collected all the papers up in silence and slid them in to manila. Reid turned off his light and followed Hotch to the car.

Reid was suprisingly calm. He always got nervous when he was alone with someone and there was silence but for some reason this time- Nothing.

"So this Kate, how well do you know her?" Hotch asked.

"She was really my only friend through high school, she has exactly the same IQ as me and has an eidetic memory but moved around a lot in school since she was in foster care. She moved next door to me when I was in my freshman year at Bleak High. She was ahead of me but since I skipped some grades, we graduated together. We went to college together, and then we started the FBI academy. After that, we went our separate ways, me to Quantico and Kate to New York. We still talk a lot, but hardly ever see each other." Reid said. "What about you, do you have a best friend?"

Hotch smiled.

"Yeah, Jack and I grew up together, our fathers were best friends. We went through high school together but then went our separate ways through our jobs. We talk quite a bit but just like you and Kate work stops us meeting so often" Hotch sighed.

"Is your son named after him?" Reid asked.

Hotch smiled at the fact he remebered his son's name but then realised this is Reid , he remembers everything.

"Yes, Hayley liked the name when I suggested it." Reid nodded.

He had noticed how Hotch's voice always changed when he talked about Hayley, but decided not to mention it. They sat in comfortable silence for the rest of the journey to Reid's apartment. When Hotch pulled up outside his building, Reid couldn't help but be disappointed. He didn't know why, but he was enjoying the company and didn't look forward to an evening alone in his empty apartment, thinking about those girls.

"Thanks for the lift, Hotch" Reid said undoing his seatbelt.

Hotch smiled. "No problem"

"You should smile more often, it brings out your eyes" Reid blurted out. He sat there with a look of shock on his face but in his head he was screaming _OMG what have I done? _

Hotch sat there, laughing at Reid's face and gently closed Reid's mouth with his hand.

Reid grabbed his things and was about to jump out of the car.

"Reid" He turned around even though his cheeks were burning" Thank you for the compliment" Hotch leaned forward and softly kissed Reid. He felt Reid stiffen with the kiss but slowly relax and started to kiss him back. Hotch moved his hands onto Reid's face and stroked his cheek. After a while they parted panting looking into each other's eyes.

"You don't know how long I have wanted to do that" Hotch said with a smile. Reid laughed.

"I will see you tomorrow, Aaron" Reid said jumping out of the car. Hotch noticed how relaxed Reid seemed, like he was now able to be himself. Like he finally felt accepted. Hotch nodded

"See you tomorrow Spencer, ring me tomorrow after you have spoken to Kate" Hotch said. Reid nodded and closed the door. He walked up to his apartment building and turned around and waved. Hotch waved back as he drove off. Hotch breathed out. It finally hit him what he had done as he was driving home. He had kissed an employee. Yes, one he had been admiring for quite a while but still one of his employees. It could damage his or Reid's career if anyone found out. He could not help but think that even though he and Reid may be frowned upon by their superiors they would have a fantastic time together outside of work and that may out do all the con's of their relationship.


	2. Getting a case

A/N: I just wanted to say thank you to all the people who commented on my fic and the other people who added me to the alert list, I feel very honoured by all of you

**A/N: I just wanted to say thank you to all the people who commented on my fic and the other people who added me to the alert list, I feel very honoured by all of you. Here is the second chapter which has been posted on Livejournal and was betad by the fantastic Dragontat. Please review they are like tiny hugs. **

_She was coming out of a bar. She was all alone, just like he liked them. He reached on to the seat to his right and grabbed the cloth with chloroform on it. It knocked them out while he put them in the truck. He was going to have some fun with this one, she was brunette- his favorite. __He'd always heard you had more fun with brunettes, turns out it was true.__ He chuckled to himself at the memories flashing through his mind. He jumped out of the truck and jogged across the road. He looked around- it was just her and him. Just how he liked it. He couldn't help but smile. _

_--_

Hotch was not having a very good morning. So far he'd ran out of hot water in the middle of his shower, he'd smashed his favorite coffee cup and to top it all off, Haley had called to say she and Jack were going to visit her folks for two weeks. When his cell rang he was hoping it was something important or he was going to snap.

"Hotchner" he snapped.

"Wow, you don't sound a very happy camper this morning" Reid chuckled.

Hotch relaxed, he fell back on to the sofa.

"Sorry, I'm just not having a very good start to my day" Hotch sighed, while rubbing his forehead. He heard Reid giggle in the background "Spencer did you just giggle?"

"No, Not at all" he said, but Hotch could hear Reid try and stifle a laugh "I've spoken to Kate, she says she would love some help with the case, I gave her JJ's cell phone number so that she can get things arranged"

"Okay," Hotch replied. There was silence on the other end of the phone, and Hotch did not know what to say.

"Did you mean it last night when you said you had wanted to kiss me for a long time?" Reid asked shyly.

"Yes," Hotch replied automatically. He heard Reid breathe out like he had been holding on to his breath. Hotch felt like he was back at high school telling someone he liked them.

"Okay, I will see you on the plane soon then" Reid said. Hotch noticed how the tone of Reid's voice had changed, it sounded happier.

"Yes you will" Hotch said with a smile.

"Bye, Aaron"

--

The next time they saw each other it was on the plane. Reid was looking over the case file in front of him. He looked up when Hotch walked towards him.

"Hey," Reid smiled

"Hey" Hotch replied with an equally bright smile. Hotch sat next to Reid. Everyone got into their seats and didn't really talk before or during takeoff.

JJ passed around the case files she had made up. Everyone started flipping through them looking at the photos.

"How did the Agent come across these pictures?" Morgan asked

"Shelly Walters was kidnapped 2 days ago outside a shopping mall. The security cameras picked up his number plates so the locals were able to get a search warrant. They found all these in the attic" Reid said.

Everyone nodded in silence- the pictures they were looking at were horrific. Each woman had a cloth gag to silence their screams, and their arms and legs were bound to their chair. Their clothes were ripped to shreds, and there was a pool of blood surrounding each chair.

"From looking at these photos he likes brunettes. There's is only one woman each with red, blond or black hair" Morgan said.

"Maybe he's trying to see what color hair turns him on most," Emily guessed.

"It's a possibility," Rossi added.

"We will be landing at JFK in 30 minutes so I want you all to look over the case file and think of any questions that we need to ask Special Agent Tyler, okay?" Hotch asked. Everyone nodded before moving to their favourite part of the plane. In minutes only the sound of pencil upon paper could be heard.

A local cop was waiting to show them to their transport, as usual two SUV's, Hotch, Reid and JJ took off in one, leaving Morgan, Rossi and Emily to follow in the other as they made their way to the New York FBI headquarters.

Walking into the Lobby, they saw an agent quickly put down his coffee cup before standing up to greet them

"Special Agent Thomas Bell," he said offering his hand towards Hotch. "Special Agent Tyler has set aside a conference room for you"

"Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, this is my team"

"Well I'll show you to the conference room and then Kate said that you and Dr. Reid would probably want to talk to her" Thomas said turning down the main corridor of the building. The team followed.

"Yes, if that's possible" Hotch said. Thomas nodded before stopping outside a brightly lit conference room.

"I hope this is alright," Thomas said. Hotch nodded before looking at his team.

"If you guys set up here while Reid and I go and see Special Agent Tyler and then we can start straight away" Hotch said. Emily,JJ, Morgan and Rossi nodded and went in to the conference room. Rossi and Emily started unpacking boxes. JJ phoned Garcia to see if she had any information while Derek wondered out loud where the coffee pot was.

"Right, let's take you to Kate she is really excited to see you, Dr. Reid, even though I am sure she'd rather it would be under different circumstances" Thomas smiled. Reid nodded. He was nervous. He had butterflies in his stomach, he didn't know why.

Thomas took them to an office area at the back of the building before pointing out a door.

"That's her office," Thomas said.

Hotch and Reid nodded their thanks. They started walking slowly towards the office. Hotch could tell Reid was nervous.

"How long since you have seen her?" Hotch asked

"Nine Months"

"Does she know about last night?"

"Yes" Reid heard Hotch take in a big breath "Is that okay?"

"Yes, it's fine" But it was obvious to Reid that Hotch was a little uneasy with Kate knowing the truth.

"I was confused" Reid admitted.

"We'll talk about it more after the case" Hotch said reassuringly.

Reid smiled. They reached the office, Reid knocked on the door.

"Come in"


	3. A Strange Feeling

**Hi guys, I am sorry it has taken me so long to get this chapter up. I hope you like it and hopefully it won't take me to long to get the next part up. :-D Beta was Dragontatt from Livejournal Thank you so much.  
**

Reid entered first with Hotch close behind him. Perched on the edge of her desk looking at a white board on the back wall was Supervisory Special Agent Kate Tyler. The board was covered with pictures of the missing women. There were words and phrases surrounding them that she though might have importance.

"Kate?" Reid said. Kate stood and spun around, a huge grin on her face. She walked around the desk towards Spencer and wrapped her arms around his neck. Reid put his hands around her waist.

"Hey Spence," Kate said.

"Hey Kate," Reid said.

Kate pulled away from him and turned towards Hotch, holding out her hand.

"Supervisory Special Agent Kate Tyler, pleasure to meet you sir," Kate smiled.

"Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, from what Spencer's told me the pleasure is mine," Hotch replied.

"He actually told you good things about me?" Kate said with a questioning look. Hotch smiled and nodded.

"You have some interesting theories on here, Kate, remind me why you don't work for the BAU," Reid said in a teasing tone looking at the white board and then glancing over at Kate.

"Because someone else got the position I applied for, Dr. Reid," Kate said raising her eyebrows. Reid smiled at her.

Hotch smiled at the banter between the two. They clearly had a deep connection, and Hotch had never seen Reid this at ease around anyone before, he couldn't help but the feel the pang of jealousy forming in his stomach wishing he had that sort of relationship with Reid.

"Is there any connection between the victims?" Hotch heard Reid ask. Hotch came back to the office.

"There are nine victims, including Shelly Walters, they are all female, mostly brunette, taken from different locations " Kate walked to her desk and picked up a file. "I've got all the missing persons' reports- they all were last seen at different places, different times of day. Beside sex and hair colour, the only other thing they have connecting is age-they were all between 21-29" Kate summarised.

"I'll definitely want your input in the profile Agent Tyler, you're a highly qualified psychologist so anything you want to add please do it " Hotch said.

Kate smiled, "Please call me Kate, thank you very much, Agent Hotchner "

"Aaron, please," Hotch said.

Kate walked round her desk and grabbed her jacket and put it on. She put her holster in her trouser waist band.

"So Reid, do I finally get to meet the team?" Kate said with a smile. She opened the door for Hotch and Reid to walk out.

Reid sent her his version of an evil glare. Hotch laughed at his attempt.

Kate couldn't help but feel a little happier as she closed the door. This feeling quickly went away as an Agent came running towards her.

"Agent Tyler "

"Yes" Hotch and Reid stopped and looked at the agent. They could just tell that the agent was bringing bad news.

"Shelly Walters' body has just been discovered "

"Okay, thank you " The agent nodded and walked away. Kate rubbed her forehead before looking at Hotch and Reid.

"Do you want to follow behind me?" Kate sighed.

Hotch nodded.

"Ill meet you outside, I have a black SUV too" Kate said walking away.

Hotch looked at Reid, "Come on, let's get the team, we need to get to that crime scene"

"What do you think?" Please comment, good or bad reviews are appreciated. They make me write more or help me improve my writing. Comments are like Tiny Hugs.


	4. Connections

Hotch drove the SUV through the mid afternoon traffic

Hotch drove the SUV through the mid afternoon traffic. JJ was in the back seat trying to calm down the press, who had somehow found out about the discovery of Shelly Walters' body. Reid was absently staring out of the window. Hotch looked in the rear view mirror to make sure JJ was still preoccupied. She was, and so Hotch reached over and gently entwined his fingers with Reid's.

"Are you okay?" Hotch asked gently.

Reid looked from Hotch's face back to their hands with a look of shock on his face.

"Yes…Yes I am," Reid said with a small smile and squeezed Hotch's hand. Hotch smiled and turned back to the road, but when they heard JJ getting off of the phone, they let go of one another's hands.

"Okay, they are going to keep it quiet for the moment as long as I do a press conference when we find the unsub," JJ sighed.

"That's great JJ, we don't need the public worrying," Hotch said.

JJ nodded and looked out of the window.

Hotch followed Kate when she pulled into a cornered off street. An agent pointed at a parking space for Hotch. Hotch jumped out of the SUV and waited while Rossi parked behind him.

Hotch walked towards Rossi, Morgan and Prentiss, Reid and JJ behind him.

"What do we know, Hotch?" Morgan asked.

"Shelly Walters, 28 was kidnapped two days ago by Mark Emmie," Hotch said.

"Spence," Kate said walking towards the group.

"Hey." Spencer smiled at Kate.

Hotch felt that feeling in his stomach again- Jealousy.

"Guys, this is S.A Kate Tyler," Hotch introduced.

"Hey," Kate smiled and waved.

"How was the body discovered?" Rossi asked.

"The body was found in the middle of the road at nine this morning by a postman. She was lying in the middle of the road in a very unusual position. Postman went over to her, checked her pulse and then called 911. They pronounced her dead 10 minutes after getting here."

"When you say unusual…" Rossi trailed off as Kate tipped her head as a sign to follow.

The team followed Kate as she led them to the body. She bent down beside the body and pulled back the cover.

"Oh my God," Prentiss exclaimed.

"How did he do that?" JJ asked.

The victim's hands were on her chest placed in the praying position.

"By the look of it," Kate pointed to the wrists, "There are ligature marks which suggest ropes, and I presume he made sure they were held in this position long enough for rigor mortis set in"

"But I don't understand why the unsub would do something like that?" JJ said.

Kate stood up and faced the team.

"Well, to do something like this to the body it suggests a religious unsub," Kate said.

"He may be trying to show the victim is begging for forgiveness," Rossi suggested.

"Which means the unsub believes the victim has done something wrong in the eyes of God," Reid said.

Everyone nodded, knowing that often enough it was very hard to find out what the unsub actually believed they had done wrong.

"You have a Religious Studies Major don't you, Kate?" Hotch asked.

"Yes, so I might be able to help," Kate said nodding.

"On the plane," Reid said pulling a map out of his bag, "I put all the places where the victims were taken on a map. Some of them are clustered but I couldn't see any correlation, but now I do" He placed the map on a car hood so that everyone could see. On the map there was a cluster of 5 dots and then another cluster of 4.

"Reid, what do you see?" Hotch asked

Reid took a pen out of his bag and started drawing on the map.

"Can't you see it?" Reid said

"Dude, we won't understand anything you see," Morgan grinned.

Kate smiled at Morgan.

"Look" Reid says pointing at the map where he had connected the clusters.

"One complete and one not fully connected pentagram" Rossi exclaimed.

"He's drawing pentagrams on a map, that's how he finds his victims," Reid said.

Kate frowned and looked into the distance.

"Ha, Reid gets that look when he's onto something too," Morgan laughed.

Reid scowled at him.

"Their names," Kate exclaimed. She turned over the map where it was blank and grabbed the pen out of Reid's hand and wrote out the names of the victims.

Debbie Willimas  
Emma Cherry  
Valerie Full  
Imogen Wynne  
Leah Michals  
Shelly Walters  
Charlotte Best  
Hannah Weby  
Ilyssa Holden

"The first name of the victims," Kate exclaimed. Kate stood up and stared at the team.

"He's trying to spell out Devil's Children."

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this part up, I have left school now so I should be able to get the next part up quicker. Please comment on what you like and dislike. Comments are like tiny hugs :-D**


	5. Excuse Me?

**Hi Guys, Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far and has added this to their alert List, :-D Was beta'd by the fantastic Dragontatt from LJ!**

"If I haven't said this already, this Unsub is seriously weird," Morgan said.

Prentiss frowned and folded her arms. "And being a serial killer isn't already weird?"

"You know what I mean," Morgan sighed.

"Guys, please," Hotch sighed. "Look, I think it would be best to go back to the office and look through all the victims' files and see if there is anything that they have to do with each other or do anything remotely similar, is that okay with you, Kate?"

"Yeah that's fine, if you need any more men just tell me," Kate smiled.

"Thanks, come on we need to get started," Hotch said to his team. They split up into their respective groups and got in the cars and started driving back to the head quarters.

Reid had some thinking to do. On the way back in the car he heard Hotch and JJ talking but didn't participate in the conversation. It was a long time ago since he'd, had a crush on someone; someone who made his heart beat a little faster when they were near to him. Being in the passenger's seat next to Hotch made him feel as though he was going to pass out and second. Everything Hotch did made him smile, or blush a little. He wasn't used these feelings and he didn't know how long he would be able to cope not knowing if Hotch felt the same.

**6 Hours Later**

"Oh my god, my head is spinning," Prentiss groaned laying her head on the table.

Morgan laughed at her.

"Has anyone found anything?" Reid sighed, putting down the folder he'd been looking through.

"The only thing that I can see in my group was they all went to a coffee shop every morning" Prentiss sighed.

"Hold on a minute," Rossi exclaimed.

"What is it, Rossi?" Morgan asked.

Everyone turned to Rossi as he flicked through his papers.

"Guys, my girls went to a coffee shop every day."

Everyone suddenly started going through their own papers.

"So did mine."

"So did mine."

"That's the link," Rossi exclaimed. "All the girls go to a coffee shop near them everyday."

"How is that possible though?" Prentiss said "People all over the country go to coffee shops every day, how does he know their names? These girls' kidnappings are planned in advance."

"Hey, guys," Kate said walking into the room and sitting next to Morgan.

"We think we may have found the link" Hotch said.

"Oh my God, that's fantastic, what is it?"

"They all go to a coffee shop every morning," Morgan said.

Kate nodded and looked deep in thought.

"That's a strange way to link your victims, isn't it" Kate asked.

"We have seen stranger things; there was this one time…" Reid was cut off.

"Have you got anything?" Rossi asked.

Reid stared at him and sighed.

Kate nodded. "Lisa Morris was kidnapped 10 hours ago on her way home from a night out, she fits the description; brunette, slim build and her name is the next letter. I have scanned through all missing persons from the last 48 hours and she is the only one that fits the pattern."

"He must have a dump site somewhere as only Shelly Walters's body has been discovered," Rossi sighed.

"I think that's because he knew we have found him out, we know Mark Emmie is the serial killer or at least an accomplice, but then we found those pictues in his attic which he doesn't want anyone else to see."

"To be honest, I believe the best thing we can do at the moment is go and get some sleep and start again in the morning," Hotch said.

Everyone in the room nodded. Prentiss, Rossi and JJ got up and left the room heading for the hotel. Kate slouched in the chair and sighed.

Kate felt like crying; the girls who were being killed under her watch were her age, same build, same hair colour and yet she hadn't realised they where missing until she had the ultimate proof in front of her. She dealt with killings all the time, but it never got any easier. She had children, mothers, whole families killed but nothing prepared you for a religious serial killer who believed they were on a mission to save the world from the Devil.

"Right guys," Morgan said pulling Kate from her thoughts. "I'm gonna go and get to bed, I'll talk to you tomorrow." He stood up and smiled at the other agents and walked out of the room.

"I'm going to head to bed too, I'll see you tomorrow, Kate and I will see you later Reid," Hotch said standing up.

Reid and Kate waved as Hotch walked out of the office.

Reid looked at Kate and smiled, "Hey."

"Hey." Kate sighed, and then suddenly jumped up "Come on time for bed, your boss is right."

"It's boss now, is it?" Reid said standing up and walking out of the room with Kate.

"Well, I can't really say your hotty of a boss Aaron Hotchner is correct, can I?" Kate said with a smile.

"Well, you wouldn't be telling a lie, would you?" Reid said smiling.

"Oh Reid," Kate said patting him on the shoulder. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" she said as she started to walk in the opposite direction.

"Yep, talk to you later."

Kate was walking to her car when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and opened the message.

_Did you know you look sexy when you are thinking about something?_

_M x_

Kate smiled as she jumped into her car. According to what Reid had said Morgan was quite the ladies man.

_Let me guess- Garcia got you my number_

_K x_

She pulled away from her parking space and started driving home with a smile on her face as her phone vibrated again.

Reid held on to his shoulder bag as he walked down the corridor to his hotel room. He was nervous; he hadn't felt like this for a long time. He pulled out his card key and stopped in front of the door. He slid it in to the hole and gently pushed the door open.

He walked in and looked around, just as Hotch walked out of the bathroom in his boxers.

"Hey, Spencer," Hotch said softly.

"Hey, Aaron," Reid said smiling as he dropped his bag on the bed and sat down next to it.

"Tired?" Hotch said, sitting on his bed and facing Reid.

Spencer nodded and yawned in return. He smiled bashfully at Hotch.

"Can I ask you a question?" Hotch said suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"Sure."

"This may be none of my business, but have you and Special Agent Tyler had a sexual relationship?"

Reid sat there stunned.

"Excuse me?" Reid asked, hoping he was wrong.

Hotch gave him a look which told him he had not heard wrong. "You're right Hotch, it does have nothing to do with you." Reid got up off the bed and walked towards the bathroom.

Hotch grabbed him, "Look I'm sorry, you're right, it has nothing to do with me, it's none of my business, its just, the way you look at each other- I just wish I had that."

Reid looked puzzled. "I don't understand, what are you saying?"

"Did you know you have 4 different smiles?" Hotch said.

Reid smiled a little and shook his head.

" One is where you are happy and are quite impressed with yourself, Two is when you're feeling awkward and shy, and you smile because you think it will help decrease the tension, Three is when someone else thinks something is funny and you don't get it but you smile anyway," Hotch paused before continuing. "And Four is one I only saw recently and is the one I wished you would do more often, and especially at me, it's the way you smile at Kate, because she knows everything about you and you feel totally comfortable with her." Hotch looked at Reid trying to gauge his reaction and he was quite surprised at Reid's reaction.

Reid couldn't help it, after all the things Hotch had said he could stop himself. He gently cupped Hotch's face and kissed him softly on the lips. He felt Hotch snake his arms around his waist and pull him closer as he gently kissed back. Reid carefully moved his tongue against Hotch's bottom lip to help gain him entrance. Hotch groaned at the sensation and opened his mouth a little. Reid took that advantage and slipped in his tongue. Their tongues slowly caressed each other, their hands roaming all over their partner's bodies. They pulled away panting.

They rested their foreheads on one another.

"Come on." Hotch leaned over Reid and pulled his PJ bottoms out of Reid's bag and handed them to him. "Get changed and then we can go to bed"

Reid smiled and took the PJ bottoms. He kissed Hotch briefly on the lips as he started toward the bathroom.

Hotch couldn't stop smiling, he was so happy. Reid liked him and he felt liking shouting it from the roof tops and jumping up and down like a five year old. He moved his bag off his bed and slid in next to the wall. He lay there with a huge smile plastered on his face.

"What you grinning at?" Reid said, standing by the bed.

"Nothing," Hotch smiled and lifted up the bed clothes.

Reid smiled back and slipped in. He put his back to Hotch and he felt Hotch mold his body to Reid's. Hotch put his arm around Reid's waist.

"Night, Spencer," Hotch said, gently kissing his shoulder.

"Night, Aaron," Reid said lifting up Hotch's hand and kissing it.

After five minutes or so, all that could be heard was the slow breathing of two lovers.

**So what do you think? I love to know your thoughts :-D Please review. **


	6. Memories

**Hey Guys, I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get this up. My main computer has broken which is where all my writing is. I have managed to get the latest chapter on to my laptop, to post onto here. This chapter is shorter than the rest but hopefully you still like it. Please review!**

Reid groaned, turned over and covered his ears at the banging sound.

"Reid, Hotch!" someone was shouting from outside.

Reid and Hotch sat up and stared at each other before Reid jumped out of bed and quickly messed up the bed clothes on the other single bed. He looked around and then walked to the door and opened it.

"What?" he said to Morgan. He noticed Morgan was still in his running gear, and raised his eyebrows. He felt Hotch walk up and stand behind him.

"What's wrong, Morgan? We're not supposed to meet up for another two hours, it's only six," Hotch said, yawning and looking at his watch.

"Something's happened," Morgan said quietly.

Reid and Hotch looked at each other and then back at Morgan, waiting for an explanation.

"Kate's…" Morgan started.

Reid felt his heart beat increasing, he felt all the blood drain from his face.

"Kate's been kidnapped."

Hotch barely caught Reid as he collapsed.

Reid felt like someone had hit him over the head with a baseball bat, his head was pounding so hard. He heard people around him talking, but it was just mumbling. He tried to open his eyes to see who it was. He groaned. Who ever was near him heard him, as they rushed towards him and said his name. He couldn't make out the voice before he slipped back into unconsciousness.

"_Hey, Jackass!!" Reid heard as his head hit the ground. He could hear laughter all around him._

"_Hey, get the hell off him." A girl crouched down in front of his face. "Are you alright?"_

_Reid opened his mouth and closed it again; some one was trying to help him._

"_Ha, now the freak's doing fish impressions," some guy laughed._

_Reid watched as the girl stood up, punched the guy, and kicked him in his groin. Reid sat up and then slowly stood, gently rubbing his head trying to ease the pain._

"_If you ever touch him again, you won't be laughing for very long time, sunshine." she shouted._

_Everyone stood there, staring at the mystery girl but Reid was looking at the boy she had just hurt, who was leaning on a locker. Reid's eyes opened wide. It was the star quarterback, Jerry Turnwell. The same guy who had been giving him trouble the minute he stepped on the school grounds._

"_Come on," the mystery girl said grabbing Reid's, arm and dragging him along the corridor._

"_Whe..where are you taking me? If you want my lunch money, they've already taken it." Reid stuttered._

_She pulled him inside an empty classroom and locked the door behind them._

"_Don't be silly, I don't want your lunch money, I want to help,." She said gently. "Sit on the desk."_

_Reid gingerly sat on the corner of the desk, keeping a wary eye on his rescuer. He watched her come towards him._

"_I promise, I'm not going to hurt you," she whispered._

_Reid believed her for some reason, and so he nodded, and then cringed when a shooting pain went through his head._

"_Can I look?"_

"_Sure."_

_She gently pulled up his hair and looked at his head. She sighed loudly when she did so. _

"_What's wrong?"_

"_You're bleeding, those bastards, if they ever touch you again I will absolutely kick their asses!"_

"_You really don't need to do that," Reid stammered._

"_Why, are you gonna do it?" she said, looking him in the eyes._

"_Good point," Reid chucked. "Can I ask you a question?"_

"_Sure."_

"_Why are you doing this?"_

"_Doing what?"_

"_Helping me."_

"_Because I know we are going to become good friends,"_

"_How do you know that?"_

"_I can feel it in my heart" she said, looking at his head again, dabbing it with tissues._

_Reid couldn't help but smile._


	7. Dead or Alive?

**Hey Guys, Sorry it has taken so long to get this chapter up, things are hectic in RL, My mum is really ill at the moment and is in and out of hospital so I am not getting to write as much as I want to. Hope you like this chapter please review :-D**

**x**

Reid slowly opened his eyelids and took in the area around him. He was lying on his bed in his hotel room. Morgan was asleep on the other bed facing him. He couldn't help but wonder where Hotch was. He reached to the bedside table where he saw his cell and flipped it open to see what time it was. It was two in the morning- he had been asleep almost 20 hours. He rubbed at his forehead before pushing himself up into a sitting position, groaning as his muscles protested at the sudden movement. He saw Morgan stir and watched as his eyelids fluttered.

"Hey, man," Morgan yawned, sitting up.

"What happened?" Reid asked, pushing himself so he had his back against the wall.

"You don't remember," Morgan said, looking worried.

Reid sighed.

"I remember what you told me and Hotch, that K-" He couldn't say it. He couldn't let his mind think about it. He tried, but once again he hated his complex brain, unable to control it.

All he could think about was what had happened to those girls before Kate, what had happened to him. He never wanted her to go through that.

Morgan nodded in understanding.

"She was kidnapped from her car, her engine was still running when agents got there, her cell was smashed on the sidewalk- Garcia checked and her cell phone was turned off at 1a.m, so she's been missing roughly 25 hours. "

Reid's head started running through all the statistics of when his best friend was most likely going to die.

Morgan could see Reid's eyes glazing over. He jumped off the bed and knelt on the floor before his friend.

"Reid, look at me."

Reid looked at him with those innocent eyes.

"Don't think about that, we need you. We need you to help us find her, not make us think about the chances of dying. Make us think about her chances of surviving."

Morgan watched as Reid absorbed what he had been told and then slowly nodded.

"Where is everyone?" Reid whispered.

"FBI Headquarters, Hotch wanted me to stay here in case you woke up."

Reid nodded. "We need to get going, we have a case to solve."

Hotch stood in front of his team watching them as they looked once again through the thin files on the women who had already been killed. They had tried to build a profile, but what they had wasn't enough to go to the public with. There was only had 1 body, and weren't able to make an accurate observations from the photos that had been found.

He knew the team were pushing themselves for Reid's sake. They had seen how close Reid was with Kate, a woman they hardly knew but it was obvious how important she was to a member of their team. This made them push themselves to the limits.

Hotch gasped as Reid walked into the conference room with Morgan close behind him. Everyone turned to look at them and tried to reassure Reid with their smiles. Reid tried to smile back but failed. Everyone looked back at their files and continues to take notes and work. Morgan sat down next to Rossi and took a file and started working. Reid came to Hotch and smiled.

Hotch tilted his head in an order to follow. They walked into the empty hall way. Hotch turned and looked at Reid.

"How you feeling?" Hotch asked him. He couldn't help but see the look of determination in Reid's eyes.

"Good," Reid answered blankly. "I want to help, let me."

Hotch nodded, "Fine, go grab a file. The profile is on the white board, anything you think is wrong tell us, anything you want to add, just do it."

Reid nodded and walked back in to the conference room.

Hotch sighed and closed his eyes. He knew his youngest profiler was strong but he didn't know if he was strong enough for this. He ran a weary hand across his neck before walking back into the conference room.

"Special Agent Reid?" A young man was standing at the door holding a cardboard box.

"Yes? Reid said, looking up from the file. He had been here now for four hours, and while a few things had been added to the white board, there was nothing concrete.

"This just came for you- we've scanned it and it is safe." The man assured him.

"Thanks," The man nodded and walked away.

All eyes were on the box. They knew what it was about, they just knew. Morgan handed Reid his pen knife. Reid gently slit along the edge of the box hoping they may be able to get some fingerprints but knowing in his gut they wouldn't.

Reid sighed loudly as he opened the box.

Reid's face crumpled in confusion as he looked what was in the box. He took out the purple lidded box and placed the brown box it had come in on the floor, once he had made sure it was empty. Everyone sat around the table and watched as Reid pulled off the lid.

His eyes opened in surprise as he looked inside the box and he sat abruptly, like his knees had gone weak. He gingerly pulled out a DVD and handed it to Hotch.

Hotch pulled the laptop which was on the table to him and pushed it in. While the laptop whirred, he pushed it into the middle of the table for everyone to see.

"Ready?" Hotch sighed.

Everyone had seen these DVD'S before- they usually contained death or violence. Nothing happy, no matter how hard they hoped for it.

Everyone nodded. Reid hadn't taken his gaze off the contents of the box.

Hotch pressed play and they awaited Kate's fate.

_Well hello FBI, It's lovely to speak with you at this dreadful time in Special Agents Kate__'__s and Spencer__'__s life. I am sure you all know who I am by now- Mark Emie. Now, you may all be wondering what else is in the box. I feel confident that Spencer has not yet shown you what is in the box. But as always I will- I always try to cooperate with law enforcement._

_This box holds all of Kate and Spencer__'__s memories. Oh how sweet, you may say but sadly their romance ended in disaster, like all romances. But you may be thinking that it must have been Kate who broke Reid__'__s heart, because he's so sweet and innocent. Actually, it was the other way around, wasn__'__t it, Spencer. _

_Yes people, Spencer came out of the closet. This brave, sweet boy decided to be himself. I mean, isn__'__t that what we all want to do? Be comfortable and strong enough to be ourselves. And Spencer decided he could- but only after taking Kate__'__s virginity and making her the laughing stock of their school. Only after breaking her heart._

_Now in the box is a lovely collection of things that I__'__ll let Spencer tell you about. But for now I__'__m sure you__'__re all wondering how Kate. She did have a nasty surprise after all- she thought she__'__d be meeting up with Morgan. Yes, the sexy agent was hoping to get a little bedroom business tonight with the macho agent and got quite a different type of business when I dragged her out of the car using her hair. _

_But, she's fine- I promise you, I've fed and watered her. She's quite a pretty little flower, isn__'__t she. You will hear from me soon. Farewell for now. _

The screen flashed and went back to its original desktop as everyone turned to look at Reid.


	8. Chapter 8

Everyone watched Reid as he stared for several minutes at the blank laptop screen. He suddenly jumped up and sprinted from the room, leaving them to stare at the empty doorway.

Hotch stood up and looked at his team.

"Send the DVD to Garcia, see if she can find out where it's from, get all the other stuff to the Lab, then get to Kate's apartment see if there has been a break in," Hotch said to his team curtly. Derek reached for the laptop, while Prentiss reached to pick up the box from the floor as he walked out of the room to find Reid.

Hotch walked down the hall in search of Reid- he found him in an empty office, his knees under his nose as he rocked backwards and forwards crying. Hotch watched him closely - he'd expecting it any minute now, but Reid had finally cracked. He'd been way too controlled the entire time he'd helped them put the profile together. But the DVD had been the last straw.

Hotch slowly walked over and slid down the wall next to Reid. He wrapped his arm around the small frame and pulled him into his embrace . The rocking stopped as Reid's body hit Hotch's. Reid kept making whimpering noises into his knees.

"He's….he's…. gonna… kill her," Reid stammered.

Hotch hugged him tighter.

"Not if we have anything to do about it," Hotch said into Reid's hair.

"I never wanted to hurt her-never. I love her with all my heart."

"I know you do," Hotch whispered.

Reid looked up and stared deep into his eyes. "You have to help me get her back."

Reid watched Hotch's face as he slowly understand the sentence.

"Of course, I'll be there."

"Good, I wouldn't want it any other way," Reid said before surging forward and kissing Hotch. He felt Hotch tense up at the sudden intrusion. Reid ignored it though, he needed this, he wanted to feel human contact. He needed to feel like someone wanted him. Reid pushed Hotch to the side and lay on top of him.

Kate had wanted him all those years ago-at first he thought he had wanted her too but after they slept together he had realised that even though he loved her with all her heart it was like a sister not in a sexual way. He didn't say anything though- he saw the spark in her eyes when she looked at him, and the way she would save her brightest smile only for him.

He hated the way she found out, the boy had kissed him on the lips. It was like a thousand volts were running through his body; it set of all the right reactions in his groin. He had never left un-satisfied after being with Kate but at the same time this was nothing like he had ever experienced before, and this was only a kiss.

The outcome was inevitable-she had walked in and seen them. Hadn't spoken to him for two days but then she shouted at him. He remember standing there while she was shouting at him all the time thinking it was because he had cheated on her and it turned out it was because she couldn't believe he hadn't trusted her to tell her the truth. The truth was he didn't know how to tell her the truth when he wasn't sure of the truth himself.

All he could do was go to her and wrap her in a hug, and continue to apologize.

Hotch didn't know what to do-he understood why Reid was doing this, he needed the human contact but at the same time, Hotch didn't want to take advantage. He had to admit, he had once had a fantasy of having sex in his office with Reid but this wasn't exactly how he imagined it.

Hotch pushed Reid away. "Reid," he panted. "Stop."

He felt his heart break as Reid looked down at him with hurt written all over his face and in his eyes.

"Why?"

Hotch moved his hand up and gently cupped Reid's face. "Even though I would happily lie here with you forever, we need to save Kate as soon as possible. And sadly we can't do it lying here or it would have made this job a lot more enjoyable a long time ago."

Hotch smiled as Reid smiled timidly and nodded. Hotch closed his eyes as Reid kissed him slowly again and then pushed himself up off the floor. Hotch sat up and with Reid's help got up of the floor.

Reid brushed down his clothes and slowly walked out of the room. Hotch sighed and took a big breath as he walked out of the office and back into the conference room.

Derek walked down the hallway holding the disc in his hand. Everyone else was going to Kate's apartment while he sent the DVD to Garcia. That voice was horrible, it still gave him goose bumps thinking about it. He couldn't help but think that it reminded him a lot of the Joker from The Dark Knight. The fact Kate liked him greatly appealed to him. He cursed himself for thinking this when the woman's life was in danger.

He only noticed the soft crying noise from one of the offices in front of him when it abruptly stopped.

He paused in his footsteps,- he didn't want to intrude, but then decided getting the DVD to Garcia was more important that someone's privacy. He decided to carry on. He started walking but couldn't help but sneak a look through the window. The view that greeted him, he never though he would see in his whole life - Spencer Reid lying on Aaron Hotchner kissing him in obvious desperation.

Garcia sat there turning the pink fluffy pen in her fingers. She was watching the DVD closely for the fourth time, listening for any background noises or images that might help determine where the unsub was. So far, all she had was a train horn, and a flicker of wrote down all the things she had to tell the team.

She looked at the picture of the team on her left hand side and she remembered holding that photo when Reid was kidnapped. She hated the feelings that had filled her body when that had happened. Garcia counted Reid him as a family member but she knew that Reid had known Kate for over half of his life, she didn't want to think about what he was going through. She looked back to her computer and carried on with the video.


	9. Chapter 9

Derek looked at the profile for the hundredth time, thinking angrily that this was the worst case he'd ever had. They knew the unsub's name, he was that cocky. They knew everything about him. But somehow he was still kidnapping girls, and getting away with it. He jumped slightly as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

"Morgan," he answered.

"Hey Honey,"

"Hey beautiful, you got anything for me?"

"This is one clever unsub."

"Garcia," he said warningly

"Sorry, Babe but he is, all I've got it a flicker of light and an train signal. I looked through a database and it turns out to be an Amtrak train signal."

Derek looked at the map and walked over to it.

"How often do those run?"

"Um, depends the route, but I'd say about every half an hour. Why?"

"Emmie, he lives an hour away from a train line."

"Hold on-let me run it through the database system and see if an Amtrak runs along that line. I found a time stamp imbedded in the DVD, he tried to delete it. But I found it."

Derek walked to the door while Garcia was searching and signalled for Reid and Hotch who were standing talking in the break room. Hotch nodded and slightly pulled Reid with him as he walked towards Derek. Derek smiled a little as he saw the look Reid gave Hotch. He shook his head and wondered how he had missed it.

"Derek?"

"Yeah, Babe I'm here."

"I'm sorry, no Amtrak train runs along that line."

Derek sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Where is the nearest Amtrack train?"

"About three, four hours away from Emmie's house."

"Okay, thanks Baby Girl."

"No problem, say hello to Reid for me."

"Will do."

Derek closed his cell and put it on the table. Reid and Hotch looked at him. He noticed how Reid looked at him with a little desperation.

"Garcia went through the DVD all she got was a flicker of light and a Amtrak signal."

Hotch nodded. "Anything else?"

Derek shook his head and rolled his lips inwards.

'I heard you ask where the nearest Amtrak route is."

"Three or four hours away from Emmie's house."

Hotch sighed and nodded. Derek grabbed his phone as it rang again.

"Morgan."

"It was a special route."

"Huh?"

"Two days ago, an Amtrak train went down the railway near his house, there was a blockage on the other line and there were government officials on the train so it had to go another way."

"What time did you hear the signal?"

"Two-Thirty, and it will have been roughly half an hour in, at a general speed it will have been four miles up the track."

"Thanks, Garcia."

Derek closed his phone and threw down the cell before walking to the map

"Two days ago, there was a blockage on the other track so they had to go down this one," Derek pointed at the railway near Emmie's house.

Derek smiled as Reid jumped up as if he had suddenly been hit with a rush of adrenaline.

"How far in was the train?" Reid asked getting on his knees in front of the map.

"Four miles."

Derek looked at Hotch and saw him watching Reid. Derek moved out of the way as Red grabbed a sharpie and seemed to start counting along the map. Derek resisted jumping up and down when Reid drew a circle around an area.

"She has to be in that area."

Derek grinned as Hotch pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial. Derek grabbed his jacket and threw Reid his. Derek grinned at Reid and nodded. Derek couldn't help but feel like it was progress when Reid nodded back.

They all ran out of the office with Hotch telling Rossi what was going on and where to go.

Hotch drove along the road beside the railroad track, with Rossi behind him in another SUV. Hotch drove down the side of the railway track. He stopped as he saw a little hut on the other side of the track. He pointed.

"Look!"

"That must be it," Derek said. Hotch nodded at Derek and Reid, and they proceeded to pull their guns out of their holsters.

"Remember we can't start shooting in case we hit her."

Derek and Reid nodded.

Hotch slowly stopped about a hundred meters away from the hut. Hotch jumped out of the car and signaled for Rossi, Prentiss and JJ to come and join him. They walked behind him, their weapons drawn before moving cautiously around the perimeter of the hut. Hotch went to the front door with Reid. Hotch knocked on the door.

"Mark Emmie! Come out-F.B.I"

No one heard anything except some muffled screams.

"Hotch, no one's coming out this end." Derek said over the intercom.

"We're going in." Hotch said back to Derek, before kicking the door with his foot. The door crashed to the floor with a bang, and dusk flying everywhere.

Hotch and Reid slowly walked into the hut.

'Come through the front, he's not here." Hotch said through the intercom to his other team members. He took a quick glance backwards just to make sure Reid was behind him. He nodded as Reid nodded to say he was okay.

Hotch spotted her in the corner, he turned around and indicated for Reid. Hotch saw the shocked, happy face on Reid's face. Even though they knew Emmie wasn't there they had to be careful in case he came back.

Hotch couldn't help but feel his heart flutter as Reid ran over to his best friend and started pulling at the ropes that were around her arms and legs. Hotch watched as Reid removed the gag from her mouth and stared at her once she was free. She looked at Reid like she never expected to see him again.

Reid suddenly pulled her into a huge hug. The woman wrapped her arm around Reid's neck and buried her head in the crook of his neck as she sobbed. Hotch didn't know how he did it but Reid suddenly picked her up and started carrying her.

"Can we go in our car?" Reid asked, stopping beside Hotch.

"Yeah, I'll come with you to the hospital, while everyone looks around here, okay?"

Hotch smiled as Reid nodded. Hotch pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around the woman's shivering body. Hotch couldn't help but feel thankful as Derek came over to them.

"Here buddy, let me take her, that way you can get in the car and get the heating on. Okay?"

Hotch couldn't help but notice that Reid looked a little wary to giving her to Derek. Kate seemed to nod against Reid's shoulder as if to tell him it was okay, and then Reid gently passed her to Derek.

"Hey, Baby Girl," Derek said kissing her head. He slowly walked out of the hut with her. Hotch squeezed Reid's shoulder as he passed him to follow Derek. The truth was Hotch wanted to touch him more, but he knew he could do that later. They still had to keep up the pretence of being mere colleagues. Hotch nodded at Rossi as he came over to him.

"He left her to die," Rossi said.

"I thought as much," Hotch agreed.

"I suspect he doesn't like to watch them die, so he comes back a few days later and then rapes them."

Hotch nodded.

"I'm going to go to the hospital with Reid and Kate, you can look everything."

"No problem." Rossi nodded before walking away. Hotch walked out and nearly bumped into Derek as he walked into the hut.

"Sorry Hotch, In a world of my own."

"No problem, Derek. How does she seem?"

"Traumatized and starving but apart from that I can't see anything. He didn't torture her but rape," Derek shrugged "I don't know."

"Okay, Rossi's in charge, keep me informed."

Derek nodded as Hotch started walking to the car. Hotch jumped in the SUV and looked in the backseat to see Kate snuggled up to Reid with a blanket and his jacket over her.

Hotch turned the ignition and looked in the rear view mirror. He felt his heart jump as he saw Reid looking directly at him. He smiled at Reid and saw Reid smile back. He looked away and grinned to himself as he pulled off. He pulled out his cell and pressed a few buttons. Kate was going to get the best medical care anyone could wish for, he would make sure of it.


	10. Chapter 10

Reid sighed as he walked into the hotel room. He had spent the last 6 hours at the hospital by Kate's side. They had given her an IV to make her sleep throughout the night so her body could try and heal it self. The nurses had sent him away, saying there was nothing he could do.

Reid smiled tiredly when Hotch came out of the bathroom, rubbing a towel over his hair.

"Hey." Hotch smiled, putting the towel over a chair. "How is she?"

"Hey. The doctors said she should be fine. She's got 2 broken ribs and a lot of cuts and bruises. But apart from that, she's okay."

"Sexual assault?" Hotch whispered. Reid could feel Hotch watching him intently as he sat on the bed.

"She won't let them check." Reid said sadly.

Reid entwined his fingers and bit the inside of his mouth as he watched Hotch frown and run his hand over his face.

"She's said that we can talk to her tomorrow." Reid said, changing the subject.

Hotch nodded. "That's good."

"It just seems we got her back too easily," Reid commented. "For a man who has been doing this for a while, with such a complex pattern….he seems to have given her up too easily."

Reid felt the bed dip as Hotch sat next to him. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Do you think he's going to come back for her?"

Hotch shrugged, Reid felt his eyebrows raise with the uncharacteristic move. "I really don't know, Spencer, he's different than any other case we have done before. I mean we know his name. We know everything about him. We are not doing a profile to find out _who_ he is, we are doing a profile to find him."

Reid nodded, agreeing with what Hotch was saying.

"I'm going to have a shower," Reid whispered, standing up and grabbing a towel from his hold all. He walked into the bathroom, turning on the shower and stripping off the clothes that had Kate's blood on them. He felt so dirty.

He stood in the shower and hissed slightly as the hot water started beating on his pale skin. He wasn't quite sure if it was the water that brought tears to his eyes, but he suspected it was the images of his best friend, beaten and bruised that appeared when he closed his eyes. He felt a sob escape his lips as his mind started to imagine what had happened to her, the probabilities that she had been raped, his best friend.

He turned around when he felt arms slid around his waist. He knew it was Hotch, his smell was distinctive. Reid buried his face into his shoulder and sobbed. He didn't want to think about what had happened to his best friend, but the images wouldn't go away.

Hotch made soothing noises in Reid's ear and rubbed his back gently. Hotch had known this would be rough on Reid, especially because of his memory. He would remember every bruise and scrape he had seen on her and wouldn't be able to stop the images of how they got there. Hotch slowly guided Reid out of the shower and helped him get dry and dressed. He carefully lay next to Reid in the bed - making sure not to touch him, but close enough that Reid know he was there for him. He couldn't help but smile when Reid snuggled up to him and slowly went to sleep.

Meanwhile, Derek stood outside Kate's hospital room door, carefully balancing two cups of coffee while the agent on duty inspected his badge. He knocked when the agent nodded his permission.

"Come in."

Derek walked in with a grin. "Well hello, Hunny."

He smiled when he saw Kate smile and laugh a little. "I'm getting pet names now, am I?"

"Of course, you're one of my girls."

"I'm not going to complain if that coffee is for me," Derek smiled and handed her the coffee. "What time is it?"

"I think about two in the morning."

"Why aren't you asleep?" Kate asked as she sipped her coffee.

"Could say the same for you." Derek said and smirked when Kate sent him a glare.

"Didn't feel like it." Kate answer defiantly.

Derek cocked his head a little and raised his eyebrow in disbelief.

"I don't like being in the dark, okay. It brings it all back," she whispered.

Derek frowned when he saw the IV dangling from the frame. He stood up and walked over, picking up the needle, "Care to explain why this is isn't in your arm?"

"No."

"Kate." Derek sighed.

"I didn't want it in, okay. Just drop it." Kate snapped.

Derek was shocked momentarily, but then just nodded, sitting back on the bed. He took a sip of his coffee. He pulled it away from his lips and held it in his lap, sending her a smile.

Derek noticed that a hospital gown was over the chair on the side. He wrinkled his forehead as the wondered why she had the covers huddled around her neck. He had presumed it was so he didn't see the bruising he knew was there.

"So, where are you going?" Derek asked, realisation dawning on him.

"Excuse me?"

"Well you're wearing street clothes, where are you going?"

"I don't know what your talking about," she said not meeting his gaze.

Derek pulled down the covers to reveal her wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

"What's going on?" Derek asked again. "You know where he is, don't you?"

"I want you to leave." she whispered.

"No. You're not, going to find him alone. Look what he did to you."

"You don't know half of it," she shouted. She then seemed to become flustered realising what she had said. Derek saw the tears in her eyes.

"Look, let me help you." Derek whispered.

"No, he said….. He said if any one tried to find him, he would kill Spencer. "

"It's a trap. Don't you see?" Derek said, trying to get her to understand.

"He doesn't know I'm coming. I don't know how to explain it. I think he let something slip about where he goes when he's tracking the girls. I just want to look into it." Kate looked at him. "Please Derek, let me try."

"I don't like it," he admitted.

"I don't care. You're not my babysitter. But if you're going to help, you can get rid of him." She nodded to the FBI agent outside the door as she slid of the bed.

The room filled with silence. The atmosphere it wasn't comfortable but it wasn't awkward. It was somewhere in between.

"Only if you keep me updated on what's going on," Derek said, trying to reason with her so at least then he could tell Hotch where she was going.

"Fine, but you don't tell anyone."

"Fine." Derek said throwing his coffee cup in the bin. He smiled at Kate before walking out the door and patting the FBI agent on the shoulder.

"Hey man, why don't you go and grab a coffee? I'll take over watch for a while." Derek smiled.

"That'd be great. Thanks, dude." The FBI agent said walking away from him. Derek opened the door when the FBI disappeared from his vision.

"Go." Derek nodded at Kate.

Derek watched as Kate grabbed her bag and walked to the doorway, he couldn't help but blush a little when she kissed him on the cheek softly.

"Before you tell Hotch, at least give me a head start." she smiled, walking away from him, and all Derek could do was watch her leave.

***Rubs hands together*** **I wasn't really just going to let her go that quickly and easily. Lots of action is coming! I really need you to give me some inspiration for the next few chapters to get written. So please press that little button and tell me what you think. **:-)


	11. Chapter 11

Derek sat on the bench outside the hospital, cradling the phone in his hand. He ran his fingers over the small buttons, trying to muster up the courage to ring Hotch and tell him that he had let Kate go. Willingly.

He pressed the number 1 and his thumb hovered over the green phone for a few more seconds. He pressed it and brought the phone up to his head, his eyes closing.

"Hotchner," Hotch said sleepily.

"Hey, Hotch."

"Derek, everything ok?" His suddenly sounded very awake.

"Not really."

Derek heard a bed squeaking so he guessed he was sitting up.

"What's happening?"

"She's gone."

"What?! They had a guard on her door."

"I told him to go."

Silence filled the conversation.

"Tell me the truth Derek, what the hell is going on?"

Derek took a breath before continuing.

"She knows where he is, and he threatened her and said if anyone tried to find him, they would kill Reid. So she went. On her own. I let her go." Derek rubbed his forehead; he rested his elbows on his knees, his face in his hands.

"Aaron, what's going on?"

Derek sat up straight, he recognized that voice. Reid. Derek stopped himself from gasping out loud and making some remark.

"Derek, I want you to find her. Tail her, do whatever you have to, but do not let her out of your site. Ring Garcia, get her to try and put a trace on her cell."

"Hotch, I don't know where she is." Derek sighed.

"Then find her." The line went dead.

Derek looked at the phone his hand and sighed. He pressed the number 2 and waited for Garcia's voice.

"There'd better be a good reason you're calling this time of the morning."

"Kate's gone, I need you to try and find her cell."

"What? How? Where?"

"Garcia please, just do it."

"Fine. Fine."

Derek heard her moving around, and was positive he heard Kevin in the background. God, is everyone shacked up, he heard some keys tapping.

Derek looked around him, the hospital parking lot was nearly deserted. He wondered where she had gone. He thought about maybe phoning the local taxi services, asking if they had picked anyone up.

"She's not used it so far, but I've got a trace on it."

"I'm going to ring her, I want you to try and see if you can find out where she is."

"Okay. Over and Out."

Derek got the number out that Garcia had given him a few days, so that he could try and ring her cell when she was kidnapped. The cell had always been on, but no one ever picked it up they believed it was a way of taunting her, the fact they were so close and couldn't do a thing to save her.

"Hello, Derek."

"Kate, look."

"I have three minutes, right. You know, before Garcia finds me."

"Kate, please."

"I have to find him, or he's just going to hurt more women."

"Then let us help."

"No."

"Reid is safe, we'll keep him safe."

"He'll find a way."

"He's with Hotch right now. Hotch will keep him safe, like he has done for all the years that Reid has been working at the FBI."

"Hotch will look after him."

"Yes, he will."

"Tell him I love him."

Derek sighed when she hung up the phone. He picked it up, when Garcia rang him.

"Sorry sweetheart. Not even close. I mean I know she's still in the area, but I couldn't tell you where."

"Okay, thanks Garcia."

"No problem, just find her."

"I'll try."

Derek closed the phone and slid into his jeans pocket. He started walking to his SUV hoping that he could somehow find her, before she continued with this suicide mission.

~*~

Reid stood in front of the mirror, staring at himself. There were circles around his eyes, making his already thin face look gaunt, like something was eating away at him from the inside.

He looked to the side when Hotch put his hand on his shoulder; he was already for work.

"You ready?" Hotch asked softly.

Reid nodded and turned around. He walked out of the bathroom slowly after Hotch, grabbing his shoulder bag. His cell was already in his pocket, his gun already in his holster but he didn't recall putting them there. He felt like he was still dreaming. Everything around him was fuzzy and when he ran his hand over the small table as he went by, it felt fake somehow, and unreal.

He walked beside Hotch as they walked out of the hotel – Rossi and Prentiss were standing near the front desk, Rossi stuffing the final bite of a bagel in his mouth while Prentiss finished her coffee, while JJ was waiting for them, beside the car.

"Hey, guys." She smiled softly.

"Hey, JJ." Hotch said, sliding into the drivers seat.

Reid tried to smile and failed, and just nodded softly, but felt his spirits lift a little as JJ rubbed a soothing circle on his back before they climbed into the car.

~*~

Kate walked down the road, knowing exactly where she was going. He had sat in a corner, rambling on about the women he had killed. There were many women they didn't know about. He had started when he was a teenager, as a stalker, slowly escalating to more serious crimes when the novelty had worn off.

She saw walked round the corner and smiled when she saw her destination. The Old Tavern.

It's owner, Tom Whitehouse, was the reason for her journey – he was the ex best-friend of Mark Rennie.


End file.
